About 7 months ago, I was taking an intensive boot camp class and started having some pain on the inside of my left foot. Nothing really that bad so I ignored it. After the class ended, I was still having pain during my normal excerise activities. Sometimes it was bad, other times just slightly there and annoying.

I went to the orthopedist just before Christmas and he said I have PTTD. Did an MRI, no tears or anything. He said to do PT and no impact exercise for awhile.

I'm still in PT and about 3 weeks ago I stopped having any pain. The therapist and orthopedist told me I could gradually add back my activities... my main one is walk / run long distances.

I started with 1/2 mile and gradually increased. Today I hit 3 miles and I've started having pain again.

The pain is nothing that bad (I would rate it 2 out of 10) but enough that I know it is there.

Will I ever be pain free with this problem? I can deal with walking on it with mild pain but I don't want to make it worse. I train for half marathons so 3 miles isn't even close to where I was or would like to be again.

My other main activity is Tae Kwon Do which seems impossible to get back to without any pain.

Unfortunately my experience will not inspire confidence. I went a year limping along, every time I tried to ramp up to former levels of activity the pain returned. However my MRI showed a tear and surgery was recommended. Here things went from bad to worse. I was given a nerve block injection behind the knee as part of the surgical anesthesia. It's never been determined whether the doctor hit the nerve or I reacted badly, but I emerged from surgery half crippled. My sciatic nerve is severely damaged, permanently. I am in constant 24/7 pain in my foot. The actual PTTD surgery went pretty well, but the nerve damage overrides that success. So, my advice is be very patient. Substitute bike riding for your workout, maybe for a year. Try at all costs to avoid the surgery option, and definitely do NOT agree to nerve block, just have them put you under.

The following 2 users give hugs of support to: Paddlejunky
roxygirl1 (02-21-2012),swimbunnie (02-21-2012)

I, too had to resort to surgery because I had a tear, but my results were very good, even with a nerve block. I did, however, try to do too much too soon and the transferred tendon got irritated. Backing off and taking it SLOWLY solved that. I'm only 8 months post op, so still have more to improve, but tendons and ligaments take a long time b/c of poor blood supply. Up to 3 miles, just 3 weeks after given go ahead is too fast. Back off for awhile like paddlejunky said. I'd check in with your pt too. Mine was great giving me advice.

In Sept. 2009 I went to see an orth. specialist who diagnosed pttd. After two weeks in a brace he said I was "cured". This was not the case and several months later I went to a foot and ankle specialist. He had me do pt and put me back in a brace. With no improvement, he ordered an MRI - this did not show any tears. By this time, the pain was not only on the inside but the outside as well. I was put in a soft cast for two weeks and when that did not work, a hard cast for two weeks. When the hard cast was taken off, a partner came in, examined my foot and asked me to do a single toe raise (which I could not do). He made the decision that surgery was necessary. When he did the surgery, found my accessory navicular bone was fractured and my pttd had several tears. Surgery for me was successful.